"Paiva" concept to open at Natick MallWritten by Justin on April 17, 2006 at 11:29PM

One new tenant coming to the
Natick Mall is attempting to create a new niche in the fitness
category. Paiva, which is owned by Finish Line Inc., is attempting to
serve the affluent, fit, at-home woman with a lineup of upscale workout
clothing. The first store in the chain opened several days ago in
Austin, with the Natick Mall location opening later this month. The
Boston Herald has more at http://business.bostonherald.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=134895.

MWDN checks out the construction at NatickWritten by Justin on April 16, 2006 at 11:58PM

Today's MetroWest Daily News
featured a long story about the ongoing construction at the Natick
Mall. While it is mostly an update on how the construction is going, it
also features some interesting information: the new parking garage F
will be located on the site of the Macy's parking lot, not near the
former garage B as other articles had implied. Additionally, the Natick
Mall will be undergoing a 14 million dollar renovation to bring the
circa 1994 building up to the standards of the new mall. Most of the
article brings the original plans to life; looks like the roads are
going to be the next big thing to change. The entire story can be
viewed at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=127552.

Independent Mobile opens to national noticeWritten by Justin on April 16, 2006 at 11:34PM

It's a smaller MetroWest retail
tidbit that I hadn't noticed until recently, but the Cambridge
SoundWorks has left Shopper's World (likely as many 10 year leases at
the power center are coming up for renewal). It's been replaced by a
new cell-phone store, Independent Mobile (also seen IMO), which isn't
any ordinary mobile phone store: instead, they're trying to
revolutionize the industry. It's big enough that USA Today profiled the
chain in a recent story. You can read more about what the company is
about at http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/gear/2006-04-12-imo-cellphone-store_x.htm.

MWDN interviews new Natick Mall GMWritten by Justin on April 9, 2006 at 12:31AM

April 1st brings big Filene's newsWritten by Justin on April 1, 2006 at 10:35PM

The MWDN is reporting that
Building 19 has signed leases on many of the soon-to-be vacant Filene's
locations. As the Federated-May merger has required the combined
company to sell excess stores, and Nordstrom did not choose to take all
of the soon-to-be vacant locations, Building 19 has stepped in. New
stores will open in Downtown Crossing (which will become the company's
new flagship store as Building 19 and 1/0), Hyannis (which will target
the affluent tourist population), Nashua, N.H., Warwick, R.I., several
others, and, of course, Natick. The Natick store is expected to house
the company's entire product line, ranging from clothing to rugs to
furniture. Fans of the chain's food products will also be satisfied
with the new store; which will devote the entire 3rd floor to
delicacies. The Natick location is yet to be assigned a fraction,
though analysts are expecting "1/pi" to denote the special food section.

Fans of Building 19's existing
location at the 9/27 plaza are not to fear: the company will keep that
location open as a "home store". No word yet on how General
Growth feels about the new store, though it is likely to fit well with
the mall's foray into upscale shopping with the forthcoming addition of
new Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom stores. More can be found at http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/businessNews/view.bg?articleid=APRILFOOLSDAY.

And of course, Happy April
Fool's Day from Framingham/Natick Retail.

Radio Shack to close 9 MA stores, Natick
includedWritten by Justin on April 1, 2006 at 10:21PM

Radio Shack will be closing 9
stores in Massachusetts and 2 stores in New Hampshire as the company
closes 480 stores across the country. Locally, the shuttered stores
will include locations in Wellesley on Linden St.; and both Marlboro
and Natick, where it is currently unclear as to which of the company's
two stores in each town will be closing. I am working to update this
story with the store locations as soon as possible.